Gold Stars and Wood Guitars
by stephyswan
Summary: set after season one, Maddie decides she doesn't want to live her life under her mother's shadow after finding out that her father is actually Deacon. She decides to run away and join the New Directions at William McKinley high school instead.
1. If I Didn't Know Better

"I don't think my dad is my father," I sniffled quietly into my phone to Talia, who didn't really know how to respond. The box was thrown across my bed, papers everywhere. I had found the one I was looking for, the paternity test. It said that Teddy Conrad was not my father.

I had taken the box out of my Mom's closet while she was out. If she knew what I had done, she would have killed me. She keeps pushing us away, just so she doesn't have to tell us the truth. Then she's all, I'm your mother and I love you and all that nonsense.

I had walked into my Mom's room to hear her say I love you to someone on the phone. I asked her who she was talking to, and she made a whole fuss about it being Deacon.

Looking through the internet, I saw a lot of pictures of my Mom with Deacon Claybourne. My Uncle Deacon that had his arm slung over my shoulder when we were at Mom's Tour. The Uncle Deacon I had known since I was a baby. Deacon was such a cool guy and such a good guitar player. I hoped that I could be able to play like him someday. He's been around for as long as I can remember, playing guitar for my Mom. What I didn't know was that they dated before my Mom married my Dad, who I guess isn't actually my father.

The next morning, I was picking at my oatmeal when my Mom suddenly spoke out of the blue, saying how she and Deacon are going to the CMAs together. I of course had to point out to Daphne that they were a boyfriend and girlfriend, just like before Teddy came into the picture. My Mom tensed up at this. I'm going to find the answers. My first guess is obviously Deacon.

After school, I took a taxi over to Deacon's. After slowly climbing the steps, I knocked on the wood slowly, waiting for it's owner to appear. The door slung open and he appeared, wearing a nice black shirt, probably getting ready for the CMAs, which of course he was going to with my Mom.

'Hey, what are you doing here... you okay?" It was then I noticed how I had the same facial features as he did. It was crazy, how I could be a mix between Deacon Claybourne and Rayna Jaymes.

"I think..." I took a deep breath. There was no going back after this.

"What is it?" Deacon's voice softened a bit. At the same time I thought I saw his shoulders tense. Maybe he already knew and was betrayed about what my mom decided to do with me. She married Teddy just so he could be my father. Look how that ended. Alternating weeks between Mom and Teddy when Mom was not on tour and when Dad was not working on his mayoral election.

"I think that you may be my father," I muttered quietly. His eyebrows raised and his face turned a bright pink. It was like one of those moments when time just kind of froze. He was looking at me and I was holding back tears. I was right, and it was true.

The silence froze when Deacon shifted his position leaning against the door. He avoided eye contact with me, looking above me. "I honestly don't know anything about it, I'm sorry. You need a ride home?"

'No, it's okay. I'll walk." I slowly trotted down his driveway, backpack slung over my back, my glasses slipping down my nose. I quickly readjusted them. It was then I realized I had no home. If Deacon really was my father, then Mom had lied to both of us. On the other hand, my Dad wasn't really my Dad. The only person left was Daphne, of course I loved her and all, but she belonged with both Mom and Dad- I mean, Teddy.

Once I got back to the house I was happy to find that it was empty. Teddy took Daphne to her soccer game, and Mom was with Deacon getting ready for the CMAs. I didn't really want to know the outcome of that conversation either. He was probably going to confront her about it, and the idea of that made my stomach flip.

I had to do it. I had to run away. There was no point in me sticking around to see the messy fighting between Teddy and Mom, god knows what will happen with Deacon.

I went up to my room, taking the books out of my backpack. Inside I put the usual things that a person needs to run away. I needed to get out of Nashville before I could think of my next move. Going back into my mother's closet, I found the spot where she kept the money stash, it was only half a million dollars (in hundreds of course). I shoved as many as I could into the side pocket of my backpack. Walking down the hall, I was ready to leave until I passed the music room.

Walking in, I remember all the times I saw Mom sitting by the piano, humming a tune and writing on a piece of paper. It was my dream to get to do the same thing as my Mom, and again she hadn't failed to crush that one. It was all 'you can be a singer when you graduate college' over and over. Why did I need an education if I knew that I was going to go off and get a record deal and earn my life by singing songs while playing my guitar? People told me I was good enough all the time, singing was my life.

I found my mom's LP and CD collection. She only played her songs that she sang with Deacon when she was crying and thought no one else was awake. I would stand outside the door and listen to her. I wanted to run in and give her a hug, but I just couldn't. She said we needed each other, and yet she hid this from us, from me. I grabbed my favorite cd of them, A Life That's Good, which had them both on the cover. I shoved it into my backpack.

I was in the kitchen, debating whether or not I wanted to eat before leaving when Daphne bursted through the door, with Teddy in tow. She had her navy blue soccer jersey, socks, cleats, and shorts all on, with her gym bag and backpack in her hand. Teddy was wearing a suit and tie as usual, and looked exhausted (as usual).

"Hey Maddie, are you ready to go to my place for tonight?" Teddy stated in an official voice.

"Dad said we can watch the CMAs! Right Dad?" She looked up at him, and it was then I noticed that I was never going to look Teddy in the eyes. He was never going to give me the same look he gave Daphne. Deacon was never going to look at me like that. Nobody would.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I had gotten a text message from Talia. It was a link to a youtube video, with the message that the pregnant blonde in the video was her friend Quinn Fabray. The video was a group of high schoolers in golden dresses singing 'Don't Stop Believin'. According to the video, it was the Showchoir Regional that took place in Ohio last Spring. The pregnant girl Quinn, looked really wheezy. The girl with the long brown hair was really good and so was the black diva. Watching them made my eyes tear. This was my dream.

"Hey, what's that?" I noticed Daphne over my shoulder trying to see the video.

"Show Choir competition," I mumbled, watching the black girl belt notes that gave my skin chills.

"Can we do that?" Daphne squealed.

"No, Mom said we couldn't. Remember?"

"Oh yeah. I gotta go get my toothbrush." Daphne announced, walking up the stairs. Once she was gone, I went back and texted Talia:

Can you get me Quinn's number?


	2. Buried Under

"Dad, can I go sleep over at Talia's?" I announced after Daphne came back down the stairs. Dad was looking down at his phone, still holding Daphne's soccer bag.

"But we were going to spend some time together, with all that's happening I think we should. And we can watch the CMAs. Don't you want to see your mom win?"

He looked so hopeful. It made me want to cry knowing that he didn't love me like he loved Daphne. I swallowed hardly.

"She said we needed to talk about stuff. You know, teenage girl stuff?" I hoped he was getting my hint.

"You know you can tell me anything, right Mad?"

"I know, but... please?"

He took a deep breath. "Okay..."

I pulled out my phone and texted Talia back, _'he said yes, step one is complete.'_ I quickly put my phone away and walked out of my house, possibly for the last time. Lima, Ohio, here I come!

Rayna Jaymes sat backstage at the Country Music Awards. It was safe to say that the award for Female Vocalist of the Year was safely going to be given to her. She was not going to let Juliette Barnes get in her way, even though what had happened with her mother was horrible. All bickering aside, she felt back for Juliette, who had no one to turn to. She never wanted to leave her girls for a very long time. The poor girl wasn't even here.

Deacon seemed very tense all night. I could tell he had something on his mind. I sure as hell hoped he hadn't been drinking, he had been doing so well for all this time. We were finally back together. I knew that no matter what I did, Deacon was always going to be a part of my life. I also knew that marrying Teddy was a mistake. Apart from Daphne, she was the one reason I really felt bad getting a divorce. We were going to have to tell Maddie the truth soon.

"Maddie came over today," he mumbled, flopping himself down into a chair. "She told me she thinks I'm her father. Tell me it's not true. Tell me you haven't been lying to me all these years." He looked, oh shit.

I slowly nodded. This was not how I expected this to happen. I could see it in Deacon, he was about to explode. "Remember how you were then? It wouldn't have been safe for Maddie, I did what I had to, to protect her!"

"But you could've told me sometime during those thirteen years Rayna. We had a daughter together! A daughter I'm never going to get to tuck in at night, or kiss the boo boos of!" He ran out of the room. I was left, holding back tears. CMAs or not, I needed to talk to Teddy so we could talk to Maddie. All the bad attitude she had been giving me lately suddenly made sense.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and quickly dialed Teddy. On the second ring, Daphne answered.

"Hey Mom! We're watching you on TV, it's almost time for your nomination!" she sputtered proudly. I tried to compose myself before responding.

"Can I talk to Dad?"

"Yeah sure." I heard Daph telling Teddy who it was, then the shift of the phone. I could even hear the CMAs in the background.

"Rayna..." He slowly mumbled.

"Maddie knows. She talked to Deacon." I spit out quickly before I could lose it completely.

"Maddie's not here. She went over to Talia's." Teddy officiated.

"Well get her back we need to-" My phone vibrated against my ear. I unlocked it to see a text from Maddie.

 _Mom,_  
 _I've decided to run away. I love you and Teddy and Daph and even Deacon. Tell him I love him, even though we never got the chance to be a father and a daughter._

"Teddy..." I whispered.

"I got it too." He slowly breathed out.

"I'm leaving right now." I grabbed my bag. People kept trying to stop me, but I completely ignored me. As far as I was concerned, Juliette could have it as long as I got Maddie back.

"And the female vocal artist of the year award goes to..." The announcer announced, waiting for the drum roll. I stopped to see. Not that it mattered to me, but...

"Juliette Barnes!" And the crowd went wild. She wasn't even here. My phone buzzed again. I jumped, thinking it was Maddie, but it was Juliette.

"Rayna..."

"Juliette I don't have time for this. Maddie is missing."

"That's what I was trying to tell you I- Maddie get back here! Please I-"

The call dropped.

A trip to see Juliette was about the last thing I wanted or needed right now. I quickly texted Teddy. Then I noticed the CMA, sitting around. I went over to Glenn.

"I'm going to go visit Juliette, check if she's okay. I'm sure she would love to see that." He nodded, and I picked it up and continued to my car. I tried to drive calmly, but that didn't work. I rushed quickly up the steps to see Juliette at the door. I thrusted the CMA at her and ran inside.

"I won..?" she whispered.

"Told you you were good enough. Where's Maddie?" I scanned the front room, throwing my purse onto her couch.

"Rayna... she was here and then left. I tried to get her to stay but she ran out when I was calling you. I'm so sorry... I really tried." I tightened my knuckles. The damn girl couldn't even watch my daughter for twenty minutes.

"Why did she come here then?" I growled.

"She wanted to say sorry about my Mama. Said she felt horrible that she was leaving you, but she couldn't stand looking at you and knowing that you lied to her. Rayna, I know I wasn't exactly the nicest to you when we met, but the truth is I admire you so much. You're such an amazing singer and you are raisin those girls up so well. I know it's a bad time but would you be willing to sing with me at the Bluebird tonight?"

"I can't. I can't just sit around knowing that Maddie is running around somewhere with no way to defend herself. She's Rayna Jaymes's daughter, people are going to recognize her! And Juliette, I would love to sing with you after this is all over."

"I want to come with you, I'll postpone the gig at the Bluebird... one question, why is Maddie running away?"

"She found out that Deacon is her biological father..."

Juliette's mouth dropped open. "I guess I should have seen that one coming. He didn't know? You should probably talk to him you know..."

"I know. I just hope he hasn't done anything stupid."

"Do you want me to go check on him?"

"No, we'll go together."

Juliette smiled. "Okay."


	3. Don't Stop Believin'

Maddie was surprised that her plan was working so well. After leaving her house, she met Talia at Starbucks. Talia gave her her old phone with a different number so she couldn't be tracked down.

I was kind of surprised that Talia wasn't trying to convince me to stay. Part of me was wishing she would. Maybe she knew that I would do it regardless or maybe she was going to run to my mom after I left and tell her everything.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Maybe you should just talk with your parents..."

I sighed. "I need to do this. Thanks for being my best friend. I will talk to you soon, I promise." I gave Talia a hug. We only hugged when things were seriously bad.

When we released, I could see the tears falling down Talia's face. She sniffled. "You better call me."

I smiled whole heartedly. "I will." I heard the familiar buzz coming from my white iPhone, sitting unattended on the table next to Talia's mocha cookie crumble. I walked over to it. I knew I shouldn't look at the message, but I just had to.

 _Maddie-_  
 _I know that you're upset, but please talk to us. Your father and I and even Deacon want to talk to you. Juliette is here, worried sick. Daphne won't talk to us. Please. We love you. I love you._

I felt tears coming. I needed to do this. To break free. These people had lied to me my whole life. Without thinking, I picked up the phone, and sent a text to Daphne.

 _Daph-_  
 _Please don't be mad at Mom and Dad. They love you. I love you too. And I will always love you. Remember that. No matter what, I will always be your sister._

And then, I sent a text to Deacon.

 _Deacon (Dad)_  
 _I'm sorry we never got to be a father and a daughter. I love you no matter what._

I gave Talia one more hug, then started toward the train station for my ride to Lima, Ohio.

Quinn Fabray's life had never been better. She had given birth to a beautiful baby girl, Beth, who was now happily with Shelby Corcoran, Berry's birth mother.

After a long summer vacation of working out to get back into shape, people were making way for me in the hallway again. Even though Coach Sylvester wouldn't let me back on the cheerios, I was determined to get back to the top.

Despite our loss at Regionals, we were given another year in glee club. While I knew it would not help the slushie situation, I enjoyed it.

My friend Maisy's younger sister Talia that I met both of which at a cheer camp several years back showed one of her friends a video of our regionals performance and apparently wants to come to Lima. All I know was that stuff at home was bad for her and she wanted to run away so she could sing away all of her problems. While I understood where she was coming from from personal experience, I disagreed with what she was doing. Still I agreed to let her stay with me until she decided what she was going to do.

 _Quinn-_  
 _Maddie left Nashville half an hour ago, should take hee about five hours to get there by bus. Thanks so much._

I walked into the choir room. Rachel was standing in the front blabbering on about what solo she should sing for our next sectionals performance even though we just got back. As usual, no one was listening.

Everyone relaxed when Mr. Schue walked through the door with his usual smile on his face. He clapped his hands together.

"Guys, so ready for another great year! Our goal: Nationals! I'm thinking we might need some more recruits though, another try out list may be in order."

I raised my hand. "Mr. Schue, a friend of mine is moving here from Nashville, and she can sing, I mean, realllyyyy sing. She wants to join the glee club."

"That's great Quinn! When is she moving in?" Mr. Schue chanted.

"She should be here by tomorrow." I smiled awkwardly. "She sent me a video of her and her little sister singing." I whipped out my phone and showed the video of the two young girls singing Telescope. Everyone was shocked by how good her singing was.  
Rachel on the other hand, was bewildered by this. She jumped up, raising her hand.

"Mr. Schue, this new girl... she's not going to just replace me... is she?!"

Mr. Schue sighed. "No Rachel, she's not."

Meanwhile, back in Nashville, Rayna, Teddy and Juliette were sitting around with a police officer. Deacon was nowhere to be found.

After an hour of unsuccessful attempts to communicate with the officer, Rayna was ready to pull her hair out.

Daphne ran down the stairs. "Mom! Maddie texted me! Look!" The young blonde shoved the smartphone at the Queen of Country's face.

I read the text message, and felt like bursting into tears. My little girl didn't want anything to do with me. I knew I should have told her about Deacon a long time ago, that way she would have been able to get to know him, but he was so drunk...

"Rayna..." Juliette whispered, squeezing my hand under the table. "We're gonna find her. I promise."

"This is all my fault..." I whimpered. "I want my baby back... I just want to hold her and protect her. She doesn't want anything to do with me!" I sobbed, before losing it completely.

"I need to go see Deacon," I murmured, standing up. Both Juliette and Teddy exchanged glances. Teddy stood up.

"I'll come with you, you shouldn't go alone." Teddy offered. Juliette nodded in agreement.

"Let me go alone." I grabbed my keys and slammed the door behind me.

"She shouldn't go out like that." I heard Juliette say.

"I'm more worried about what's going to happen with Deacon. Who knows what he has been doing these last few hours..." Teddy retorted.

I got in my car and drove to the first place I could think of, which was the Bluebird. I was secretly hoping I would find Deacon there, but I had another feeling I knew where he was.

After seeing that he was not there, I began the drive up to his cabin. I sniffled, looking down to notice that my phone was lighting up with a notification. With one last glance at the abandoned road in front of me, I picked up the phone and slid to answer a call from Teddy.

"Rayna, are you okay? Are you with Deacon? Is Deacon okay?"

"I'm fine I-" I stopped short when a car came from out of nowhere, opposite alongside me. I skidded, turning the wheel as fast as I could. The car tumbled off into the wood, and everything went black.


	4. Loser Like Me

"Hi guys. So today I was thinking we could brainstorm some ideas for what lesson we should cover this week..." Mr. Schue picked up his marker and wrote IDEAS in big print on his board.

A brunette with glasses walked in with a guitar in her hand. She seemed nervous, but looked like she was trying to stay calm.

"I'm Maddie. Hi Quinn," she waved at the blonde, the only girl she actually knew, even though she recognized everybody else from the video.

"I'm Mr. Schuester, but you can call me Mr. Schue." He went around the room, saying everyone's names. Everyone seemed friendly, except for the brown haired girl with the bangs who looked like she wanted to eat Maddie alive.

"Rachel, if you try anything smart I'm going to kick you out of glee club." The girl, Rachel, dropped her mouth open and crossed her arms. I tilted my head in confusion.

"Last time we had someone new that was good, Rachel sent them to a crackhouse." This news made me practically jump in my skin.

Mr. Schue laughed. "I promise yoy, we won't let that happen. Just don't hang out with Rachel."

I nodded hesitantly. This competition on the first day was making me feel very uneasy.

"So, I was thinking in honor of Maddie... what's your last name? I don't even know it..."

"Claybourne. Maddie Claybourne."

"What kind of music do you like the most?" Should I answer truthfully?

"She's from Nashville, she probably knows a bunch of guys who run around with boots and hats," A guy with a mohawk spit out. He looked too scary to be in a glee club.

"Actually that's just a stereotype. Most singers in Nashville just stick with plaid." I looked at the boy, who resembled a girl in his rather stylish outfit. I assumed he was gay (not that there's anything wrong with that) "My mom took me to a Rayna Jaymes concert when I was four. She sure is the Queen of Country." He spoke in admiration. I was used to people talking about my mom, but I thought that being in Ohio would lessen any talk of her. It made my stomach uneasy.

"Your assignment this week is to find a country song originated in Nashville, and sing it for us. Maybe some country will do us some good at sectionals."

"Isn't Nashville where they make the horses into unicorns? " the blonde in the cheer uniform behind me asked. The girl sitting next to her, a Latina also wearing the cheer outfit, answered.

"Yes Brittany, but there are also lots of singers in Nashville."

"Yeah but they do nothing compared to the unicorns." Okaaaayyyy. This was not what I was expecting when I saw that video. Weren't these people a big happy family? They sure looked like one from what I saw... maybe coming here wasn't that great of an idea after all.

Deacon Claybourne was drunk. He had drank and drank his drinks until there was nothing left. He was so upset the first time the love of his life had had a child with another man, which in truth was his child. He had watched Maddie Conrad grow up from a distance. He always envied her, knowing that him and Rayna got have had a child like that, and they did.

I was driving home. After being sober for fourteen years I had forgotten how woozy the drinking made me. Driving down the abandoned streets of Nashville to my cabin at eleven at night made this seem too surreal.

In the distance I could clearly see a car that had been thrown upside down. It was sitting off the road. Looking closer, I saw that it looked exactly like Rayna's.

I jumped out of the car and wobbled towards the thrown vehicle. I bent down to see the love of my life, who I had earlier wanted to murder, covered in her own blood. She was knocked out, leaning against the center console of the car. I slowly pried the door open, ripping the seat belt off of her, I dragged her out of the car. She dropped against me so lifelessly. I ran to my car as fast as I could without collapsing and slowly punched in three numbers.

"911 what's your emergency?"

"There has been a car crash on route 53. The car flipped over and I'm not sure if the driver is okay. I managed to get her out of the car but she's not responsive so GET A DAMN AMBULANCE OVER HERE!" I threw the phone down and went back over to Rayna. At least now I could cuddle her in my lap without any objection. She would always be my only true love. My Rayna.

"So Maddie, have you ever met any singers?" The kid Kurt asked me as I sat across from him at the Bean. It was the whole glee club minus Mike hanging out, trying to welcome me into the group. I slowly sipped my ice coffee.

"My mom was very close to both Juliette Barnes and Rayna Jaymes, who in turn was very close with Deacon Claybourne. They are all really nice people." I smiled at the thought of the three of them, then quickly shut it away.

"Hey look Rayna Jaymes!" Kurt pointed at the screen in the Bean. "Turn it up!" He exclaimed to the guy behind the counter.

"Rayna Jaymes was found on the side of the road at midnight last night. Sources say that Jaymes left the CMAs early that night, taking Juliette Barnes's trophy with her. Barnes says she indeed talked to Rayna yesterday, but that she would not release anymore information. Flowers are being set up at the sight of the crash. A vigil is being led by Barnes, who is shocked at this event.

The screen flashed to a video of Juliette, wearing a black dress near the sight, while holding a candle.

"It's shocking how fast these things can happen. Shows how you need to live in the moment. My prayers are out for Rayna and her family, because they are needed in more ways than one." Then I swore I saw her wink at the screen. Maybe she knew I would be watching. Juliette was like the older sister I never had. She was so cool, and I wished her and my mom and me could hang out, go shopping or to the movies. But that would never happen.

My mom. The very first person who saw me come into the world. While she had lied to me, she claimed it was all in my interest. Maybe it was. And now she might never come back. She went into the crash thinking I never wanted to see her again. She probably wouldn't have gotten in that crash if I hadn't run away. This IS all my fault.

"Hey Maddie!" Kurt screamed at me. I jumped up. "Sorry, you were really deep in thought. It's just that I really admired Rayna and I thought you did too. Maybe we should go to the vigil?"

"Yeah." I said. "Let's go."


	5. No One Will Ever Love You

Despite my fear of being recognized, I felt the deep need to go to that vigil. Nashville was my past, but it was also home. A home that I would eventually find my way back to someday.

We took the train back to Nashville, Kurt, Quinn and I. I think that Quinn just wanted to make sure I was legit or something like that.

The Grand Ole Opry was one of my favorite places in the whole wide world. My mom had taken Daphne and I there so many times when we were little to hear her sing.

Because of my mom's involvement with the Opry, they were willing to set up a memorial sort of thing. There were flowers, candles and pictures set up on the stage. It made me feel as if she had died or something, which she had not, or at least not yet. Just thinking about that made tears fall down my face. Quinn noticed this and rushed over to me.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just so sad. She could die! And it's all my fault!" I muttered the last part, hoping she wouldn't hear it. By this point I was collapsed on the floor, sobbing into my knees. Quinn bent down and awkwardly patted me on the back.

She whispered softly into my ear. "What are you talking about, you didn't even know Ray-"

"Maddie Conrad! Where in the world have you been? Your family has been going crazy looking for you!"

Juliette. She was wearing a black dress with her hair pulled back in a tight bun. Her eyes were swollen and it looked like she hadn't slept in days.

Quinn slowly looked at Juliette, then back at me. "Uh, I uh..." she awkwardly walked away to join Kurt, who was looking at the blowup of my mom.

"Maddie your father, aunt, sister, me, we've all been going crazy. And your mom-"

"I can see what happened to my mom. It's my fault. I'm just a mistake, I'm illegitimate. I wasn't supposed to be born in the first place."

"Hey! Look at me!" I lifted my head to face Juliette. Her eyebrows lost their tension. "You're not illegitimate. Don't even think that. I love you. Your parents love you. Daphne loved you. Deacon loves you."

"Where is Deacon?"

Juliette turned her head away from me. "In jail..."

"In jail?!" I spit out. "Why?!"

"He was drunk the night your mom got in the car crash and doesn't remember he wasn't even involved. Just because he found her on the side of the road..."

"How is she... my mom?"

"In a medically induced coma. They want to make sure the damage goes away before waking her up. She's gonna be fine."

"I know. You gotta tell her that I love her when she wakes up."

"Wait a minute, you think you're just gonna pick up and leave again? There's no way I coul-"

"You don't have a choice. I will be back. I promise that."

Juliette sighed. I guessed she wss trying to figure out how to convince me to stay even though she knew it was pointless.

"At least talk to Daphne before you go. She misses you like crazy and has been so upset. She thinks she wasn't good enough for you."

"But that's not true! I love you guys, its just that I need a break from all of this. You ran away when you were 16 to become a singer..."

Juliette sighed. "That was different. My mama was an alcoholic that abused me. Your mama loves you and wants what is best for you. My mom didn't."

"Yes but you knew who your father was!" I screamed loudly. Kurt and Quinn's heads flashed in my direction. They looked at each other with concerned expressions before heading in our direction.

"I'm sorry Juliette, I just don't know how I can look any of these people in the eyes knowing that they lied to me all these years. You understand that don't you?"

"Are you okay?" Quinn's snappy yet concerned voice snapped me out of my glare with Juliette.

"Yeah. I am. Let's go."

"Wait, are you Juliette Barnes?" Kurt's fan girl voice boomed.

"Why yes I am." Juliette replied with a smile. "I take it you've heard of me?"

"Yeah. I bought your album. I love the whole sparkles and cowboy boots thing you've got going on."

"That was the old me. I'm hoping to grow into a more mature artist."

"Kurt nodded. "I'll be buying your new album."

"I was kinda hoping Rayna would help me with it. She's sorta who I want to become someday. Then all the stuff happened." She frowned sadly. "Did you guys want to go to the Bluebird?"

"No. We gotta go." And like that, we were out of the Opry and out of Nashville.


	6. A Life That's Good

"For my song, I chose to do A Life That's Good from Deacon Claybourne. This is for him and Rayna Jaymes, for those of you who haven't heard they were in a tragic car accident over the weekend during the CMAs. I hope they're both okay. They both mean the world to me."

I cleared my throat, putting my guitar into position.

 _Sittin' here tonight,_

 _By the fire light,_

 _it reminds me I already have more than I should._

 _I don't need fame, no one to know my name,_

 _at the end of the day,_

 _Lord I pray, I have a life that's good._

 _Two arms around me, heaven to ground me,_

 _and a family that always calls me home,_

 _Four wheels to get there, enough love to share_

 _and a sweet sweet sweet song_

 _At the end of the day,_

 _Lord I pray ,_

 _I have a life that's good._

Everyone was staring at me. Was I doing bad or what? Mr. Schue was smiling, Rachel was glaring, and everyone else was kind of expressionless. Keep strumming.

 _at the end of the day, Lord I pray_

 _I have a life that's good_

Everyone clapped and I felt my cheeks go red. I never used to feel like this when I performed with Daphne. I always felt happier and definitely more confident. Thinking about her and home made my stomach always go numb. I missed her so much. Why did I bother to do this?

 _Because your mom lied to you and your father too. Deacon was in jail and her mom was in a coma. She had no one to run home to._

"Hey Maddie, if your last name is Claybourne like Deacon Claybourne, are you guys related?" Mercedes asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

"It means they came from the same unicorn." Brittany said almost too confidently.

What seemed like hours later left Maddie mumbling something along the lines of , "he's my uncle." Technically he had always been her Uncle Deacon. Not that that made any difference at this point.

"For sectionals this year I think we should have Maddie solo an acoustic song. You never see country music in show choir performances, and I think if we do it right, it could give our team a push forward in the scores."

Rachel jumped up, "But Mr. Schue..."

"Rachel you got all the solos last year, give the girl a chance."

Rachel glared at Maddie, "fine."

Two weeks after the accident, Rayna woke up from her medically induced coma. Right with her were Daphne, Teddy, and Juliette.

"Nurse!" Teddy screamed to no avail.

"God it's Rayna Jaymes's life you are putting on the damn line. Get some doctors in here!" Juliette screamed. She was used to being the number one priority, but they were just being plain stupid. The Queen of Country deserved better.

Soon a flood of nurses and doctors flooded into the room. Juliette stood with her arms crossed, glaring at the staff. Daphne hid in Teddy in fear of what might happen to her mother.

"Can you follow my finger with your eyes? Good. Don't try talking, you've been in a coma for two weeks. Do you know where you are?"

Slight nod. "We will proceed to remove the tube now."

"Hey. It's ok. She's okay." Teddy whispered to Daphne.

Soon enough, Rayna was propped up. She looked at the people sitting in her room, her daughter hiding in her ex-husband's arms, her arch nemesis turned friend leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Where was her other daughter?

And then someone else popped up in her head. The true love of her life, the father of her child.

Oh yeah.

That's what happened.

"Do you know these people?" The nurse asked Rayna. She nodded. When the nurse left, the group crowded around Rayna slowly. Daphne jumped on her mother to give her a hug, and Teddy didn't try to object. Juliette stood near the foot of the bed with her arms crossed.

"Where's Maddie?"

Ted couldn't make her heart break. Juliette, however being kind, was much more blunt. "She ran away Rayna."

"What?"

"But what you don't know is that she came back here to see the memorial set up for Rayna. And I saw her."

"Why didn't you stop her?"

"She's so young. I put a tracker on her anyways. I figured we would activate when Rayna is ready.

"That's so stupid!" Teddy blared.

"You're not her father so what do you know?"

"STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!" Rayna screamed.

"Listen, Rayna ran away from home when she was young to become a singer, I ran away from home when I wanted to become a singer. She didn't have a home to go back to and neither did I. Maddie does. She's going to come running back here when she's ready." Juliette explained almost too confidently.

"And you think that is a good enough reason to let my daughter run around the country doing whatever the heck she wants?" Teddy crossed his arms.

"Mom, when is Maddie coming home?" Daphne asked innocently. She was sitting on top of the bed, her hand in her mother's clasped together tightly. She gave it a squeeze.

"Your sister is coming home Daph. That's a promise."

Deacon Claybourne hated the color orange that surrounded him in this prison. He also hated the smell of vommit that seemed to follow him around everywhere he went. Despite that, he knew he was exactly where he belonged. Besides, the love of his life was dead now, because of him. Because he had to drink after thirteen years of being sober. And for what? For a daughter that was a missing. A daughter that he would never get to know.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when one of the jail guards came and unlocked his cell.

"You're being released." He growled.

"Why?" Deacon let out.

"Rayna Jaymes is awake. She confirmed that she was the one driving the car."


	7. Don't Rain on My Parade

Once Rayna got out of the hospital, she proudly spent her days sitting on her couch, trying to write a song. She knew there had to be something good to come out of all this. Teddy tried to stay with her as much as he could, or at least take Daphne, but Daphne had grown slightly attached to Rayna once she got out of the coma.

Rayna and Juliette had tried to activate the tracker, but it was fried and lost its signal. Juliette said she probably washed the sweater she was wearing or got it wet. Rayna just had the feeling Maddie wasn't ready to come home yet. She understood her daughter, she had been a teenager once too. She made the same mistakes as Maddie, except Rayna didn't have a place to come home too after that. Neither did Juliette for that matter.

It was three days after Rayna was released from the hospital, Daphne was asleep cuddled into her mother's side, and she was furiously flipped through what was on tv. Rayna never had so much down time in her life, but she just couldn't get a song out of her.

The doorbell rang. After gently putting Daphne down on the sofa, she went to open the door.

Deacon Claybourne.

He honestly looked sober.

"Sorry for bothering you I know you probably don't want to see me but I just... have you found Maddie yet?"

She walked out the door and slammed it behind her, crossing her arms. "No. Juliette is working on it with Teddy and Tandy." She stated blandly. "I was going to call you, I just, I don't know what to say Deacon."

"Why didn't you tell me about Maddie?" He almost looked sad. Rayna had known this man for twenty five years of her life. He was honestly her best friend. No matter what she did, Deacon Claybourne was always going to be a part of her life.

"Deacon, you were an alcohol addict. I wanted so badly for us to be a family. To have a home. But what happened? You got drunk. I didn't tell you about Maddie because I didn't know if I could trust you. By then I was already with Teddy. I couldn't do that to him. I couldn't do that to you."

"Thirteen years. You could have told me anytime."

"But when exactly is the right time to tell your child that her father is not actually her father, but her Uncle Deacon? Why would her father not want to raise her? Oh yeah, cause he was too busy being in rehab." She took a deep breath. "I am so sorry Deacon, but this is your fault. You put me in this position. I wanted to be with you. That just couldn't happen."

Deacon also took a deep breath, sitting down on the porch steps. Rayna followed. "But when Maddie comes back, am I going to get to be part of her life?"

"That's up to her. If she wants you to be her father, I am not going to get in the way of that." She looked around at the Nashville around her. "I feel like I should be writing a song."

"My hand got screwed up in the accident. No more music for me." Deacon growled.

"Well isn't there some kind of physical therapy you can do?"

"It's a sign Rayna. I'm supposed to do something else with my life. I just don't know what. I don't have the patience for physical therapy." Deacon rubbed his temples, the big bandages on his hand now evident.

"Well before you give up forever, will you at least write one last song with me?" Rayna smiled at him, tilting her head and swaying violently.

Deacon smiled, "I wouldn't give that up for anything in the world."

"Mr. Schue I still think that Maddie is not the right one for the sectionals solo! She has a country voice not a show choir one!" Rachel squealed for what seemed like the thousandth time today.

Kurt glared at Rachel, before smiling at Maddie. Maddie was glad that Kurt and Quinn were being so friendly to her. She was living in Quinn's basement for god's sake!

"Rachel, for the last time, Maddie is getting the solo. Her voice is a unique and one of a kind one and that is our advantage for sectionals this year," Mr. Schue spoke from his spot in the audience in the theater. We were running our set over and over, trying to fix Finn's bad dancing coordination amongst other things. And there was this new kid, Sam. He was blonde and cute and really clueless to say the least, but there was just something about him.

Who was she kidding? Maddie was thirteen, she wasn't even supposed to be in high school. Just because the people that work at this school are easily bribed and don't pay attention to anything doesn't mean that Maddie actually belonged there. Sam was a sophomore. The two just didn't mix.

Then again, Maddie was pretending to be a freshman...

"Did you hear, Rayna Jaymes got out of her coma and Deacon Claybourne was released from prison!" Kurt squealed almost too happily. One day she would have to take Kurt to meet her mother, maybe, if she ever went back. "She's doing a press thing at the Opry tonight and its going to be on TV. Maybe you could come over and watch it with me?"

"Maybe. Depends what Quinn is doing tonight." Maddie said. She still wasn't feeling too hot about living in Lima. Maybe it was because she was running away and pretending to not have a clue about anything in this dang world.

"Hey freshman," Maddie turned around to see Sam standing there, smiling at her.

"What? Is there something in my teeth?" Maddie nervously piped.

"No, I just- want to go to Breadstix with me tonight?"

"I- uh, sure... I would love to."


	8. Don't Put Dirt on My Grave Just Yet

"Hello Nashville!" Rayna Jaymes greeted thousands of fans in the Opry and countless fans on tv throughout the country. "Thank you for all your concern for me following the accident. It means so much that my music is changing the lives of all of y'all."

The crowd seemed pleased with this, going into another round of applause.

"So to start off, I would like to invite my close friend Mr. Deacon Claybourne to the stage. In the events following the accident, we reflected on what we were lucky to have and even luckier to still have after such a life altering event. Premiering tonight, a song for my, _our_ daughter Maddie."

The crowd gasped as Deacon came out smiling. He gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"I don't think I can sing." I mumbled to Deacon. The doctor told me that I might not be able to..."

"And I'm not supposed to play guitar. Its for Maddie, our daughter." He whispered back. Rayna smiled.

"Wait, so you're telling me that Sam asked you out on a date? And you're ditching out the Rayna Jaymes concert on ABC..." Kurt screamed. Maddie sighed. Here they were sitting in Burt Hummel's car shop, and Kurt was playing with his scarf.

"Why can't I go out with him?"

"Because he's a new kid in the glee club that I don't know and you don't know."

"Kurt, I'm not five."

"You're not sixteen either!"

..."what?" Did he know? Did he figure it out? Oh no oh no oh no...

"You're fourteen. And he's sixteen. You're the only freshman in a group of sophomores and juniors. I don't want anyone to... Take advantage of you..."

Ew. I think I knew what he was talking about despite not having taken health yet. That was disgusting. At least he hasn't figured out the other thing yet. My mom hadn't even given me the sex talk yet...

Ew.

"It's just dinner Kurt. I'll come running back home afterward if you're afraid that me and him are going to..." I shook my head in disgust. "Do people actually do that in high school? I thought that was just a popular culture myth."

"Yeah. Quinn got pregnant last year with Puck's baby."

Puck... Wasn't Puck the mohawk guy? He never really said anything to me, but he was really good at the guitar.

"And..."

"And Rachel's biological mom that was an enemy glee club coach adopted her because she felt bad about her relationship with Rachel and they all lived happily ever after."

"Uh... That's..."

"That's Lima for you..."

"Okay... I'm getting the vibe. I'll just call him and tell him-"

"No Maddie. Don't let me ruin your fun. Go ahead and we can watch the Rayna Jaymes concert on the DVR."

So that is how I found myself in Breadstix walking in to find that cute blonde guy sitting in a booth , waiting for me. I nervously scratched my nails through my hair. I was wearing jeans, a leather jacket, and boots. I also made the spunk decision to go get contacts. I loved the feeling of not having glasses.

"Hey." I said, sliding into the seat across from him.

"Hey." He created, flashing a smile at me.

"So are you excited about sectionals?" He asked me bluntly. I didn't really respond to him, picking at my nails because I was pretty sure that my face had turned red. "I think you deserve that solo. Rachel's just so annoying because she thinks she's so good. But you're better."

I smiled nerviously at him. He seemed like such a sweet guy.

"So... Tell me about yourself." I inched, still not really knowing where to go with this.

He proceeded to tell me about his family and I talked about country music as we shared a bowl of Breadstix. And slowly the pit in my stomach disappeared.

"Rayna!" Juliette bursted through my front door, not bothering to knock. "I think we found her!"

"Shit." I mumbled, Deacon still sleeping in the bedspace next to me. A post concert session in my living room had turned into a make out session which turned into... Other things...

Daphne ran down the stairs not knowing where her mother was but wanting to talk to Juliette. She was so glad that her mom and Juliette had stopped hating each other because Juliette was really cool and Daphne secretly hoped that they could hang out.

"Hey Juliette!" Daphne squealed, excited that her favorite sparkle queen was standing in her house.

"Hey. Where's your mom?" Juliette pushed.

"Right here." Rayna walked down the stairs her hair thrown back in a pony, wearing a robe.

"Teddy and I have been looking online for anything on a Maddie Conrad." She swallowed nervously. "But when we looked under something else, Maddie... Claybourne... we found it." She handed me some sheets of paper, the top one being an ad for the Midwestern High School Showchoir Sectional? Maddie wasn't even in high school yet her picture was on the ad for some high school William McKinley in Ohio because she was singing a solo?

This was bad, very bad.

Scanning the sheet for any other information I find that this sectional is today. At some point Deacon came down and greeted Juliette, who was somewhat surprised that we were together. Daphne kept babbling to Juliette and was paying no attention when Deacon came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.

"What's this?" He asked.

"We found Maddie. And we're going to get her. Today.

Maddie and Sam were getting less and less awkward as they talked about their childhoods. Maddie was, well, she was minimizing the story to as little as possible, because her life was mostly her mom and Daphne and now she had neither of them. And she could never speak of them again. She looked down when her phone rang and she saw that it was Kurt, she frowned at Sam and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were Rayna Jaymes and Deacon Claybourne's daughter?!"

Uh oh.


	9. Beyond the Sun

"Mom!" I literally ran at my mother and threw myself into her arms. "What are you doing here?"

"We found you... we found you!" Rayna kept saying, rubbing her hand through Maddie's hair and squeezing her tight.

"Maddie I missed you so much!" Daphne squeaked. Maddie looked down at her. "I didn't have any one to sing with and it was lonely. Why did you leave me? Do you not love me?"

"Daphne what I did was stupid. I was mad at mom and-"

"We were hoping we could get a song out of Ms. Maddie Claybourne!" The announcer finished. Maddie looked from Juliette to her mother back to Juliette. Her fath- Deacon, was leaning against a wall far back. He probably still didn't want anything to do with her.

"Mom I-"

"You should do it." Rayna declared.

"But I-"

"No Maddie I was wrong. I wanted to protect you for as long as you could. You're getting older and you need to start making your own decisions. You're not getting signed to any labels any time soon but you started what you did here and you need to finish it."

"I wrote a song." Maddie mumbled.

"You did?" Rayna said, tilting her head. "Can I hear it?"

"Yeah you will. But I need a guitarist." She shrugged. "I was hoping Puck would teach me some but he never got to it. He did help me with the chords though." She said and shot a look at Deacon, who in turn shot a look at Rayna. "Look, I know you probably don't want anything to do with me but.."

"Is that what you think?" Deacon lifted himself off from the wall. "That's not true at all."

"Look can we talk about this later... guitar?" Maddie tried, again.

"Of course."

"As some of you know, I am Maddie Claybourne-Conrad. I came here to Lima to escape from my problems. My mother and my newly discovered biological father got in a car crash. I just couldn't take it. I know how snobby and selfish I sound. But I learned something from this experience. It's that your family is your family. Running away from your problems does not solve anything, not in the slightest. I did however write my first song about this whole ordeal and I hope you'll like it. I hope to someday learn how to play guitar, but until then, I guess I will have to use my dad, Mr. Deacon Claybourne."

The crowd erupted in applause. Maybe these people do know who my parents are.

I wonder what it's like to live on cloud 9

Where everything's fine all of the time

I wonder how it feels to be unafraid

Day after day after it rains

Someday, somehow

Before too long

I'll say goodbye to my burdens

I'll fly beyond the sun

I wonder what it's like in the shade of a tree

Shooting the breeze being carefree

I wonder what I'd choose if given the choice

Between silence and noise

Words or a voice

Someday, somehow

Before too long

I'll say goodbye to my burdens

I'll fly beyond the sun

Fly, fly beyond the sun

I'll fly beyond the sun

Someday, somehow

Before too long

I'll say goodbye to my burdens

I'll fly beyond the sun

I opened my eyes to see the whole audience was standing in a standing ovation. I looked to the side of the stage to see the whole New Directions crew smiling at me. I turned back to look at Deacon, who honestly has never looked happier to me, smiling at... my mom? Oh...

I ship it.

After everything calmed down, I was standing with Quinn and Rachel, who had her arms crossed in defeat (and was jealous of my solo, I could tell she was trying to get her point across) when a brunette lady walked up holding a blonde baby girl.

"Shelby? What are you doing here?" Rachel said, her arms dropped.

"I got an invite from some girl named Maddie. Said that I needed to be here."

Rachel shot a death glare at Maddie. Quinn just looked shocked, staring at the baby in 'Shelby's' arms. "Who do you think you are? I have no business with her!"

"Look Rachel I was just trying to help. I realized how much I missed my mom and that I needed her and Kurt told me what happened and I just-"

"You think you're sooo great don't you? Well why don't you just pick up and go back to Nashville!"

"RACHEL!" The brunette snapped. "She's right. We need to fix this. I need to fix this. Quinn, can you hold Beth for a bit?" She said, handing the blonde to the blonde. Quinn looked shocked and screamed for Puck and the two sat in a corner. Shelby smiled at me and walked away with a defeated Rachel. Kurt shuffled over.

"Do you think I did the right thing?" I mumbled, looking at Puck and Quinn with the baby and Rachel and her mother talking in the corner.

"Probably not." Kurt laughed and his mouth dropped. "Is that RAYNA JAYMES? LOVE HER DRESS IN WRONG SONG!" Rayna laughed at this kid standing with Maddie. "I am such a huge fan of your work!" He squealed, looking at Rayna and Deacon and Juliette, who was hanging out with Daphne against the wall. She waved at him.

"Glad you love me. Maybe I'll have to have Maddie send you some tickets for one of my shows sometime."

"Oh my goodness that would be great!" Kurt squealed before walking away to go converse with someone else. Rayna wrapped her arms around Maddie.

"Ready to come home?" Rayna gave Maddie's shoulder a squeeze.

"Yes, very." And they started making their way towards the door.

"Maddie!" The group stopped, glancing back at the boy, then giving Maddie the raised eyebrow. Maddie turned a bright shade of red.

"I just- wanted to stay that it was really nice hanging out with you and I know you're going back to Nashville but..." Maddie smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"It was really nice to go out with you. I hope to see you again sometime soon..."

He nodded, smiling. "Okay." The crew continued walking til they found Juliette and Daphne hanging out outside.

"He was kinda cute..." Juliette started. Rayna glared at her and Juliette laughed.

"Maddie has a boyfriend! Maddie has a boyfriend!" Daphne squealed.

"So what is going on with you and my da- Deacon?" Maddie leaned into Rayna.

"I don't know honey. But I do know that he wants to be your father."

"I do." Deacon said, appearing on the other side of Maddie. "I know I've missed a lot, but I really want to be able to get to know you and be your father. If that's okay with you.."

"It's very okay, Dad. I love you guys so much. I'm so sorry for all of this."

"Oh thanks for apologizing, but you are so grounded!"

 **thanks for reading my story :)**


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